After breakout hit Barbarian, and Oscar-winning box office sensation Weapons, Zach Cregger triples down on horror with a new original story set in the Resident Evil universe.
Since the first Resident Evil game released in 1996, the franchise has seen nearly three dozen console games including nine mainline titles, eight feature films, live action and animated TV shows, comics, merchandise, and even multiple stage adaptations.
Cregger was given “carte blanche to do whatever he wanted to do,” according to Oliver Berben, CEO of Constantin Film, which produces the Resident Evil film franchise.
For his part, Cregger says he has played “a shit ton of Resident Evil” in the last few decades but also expects some fans to “crucify” him for deviating from the lore of the video games.
While we here at Bloody Disgusting cannot personally rescue you from Raccoon City, we can collect everything we know about Resident Evil into this handy FAQ to help you prepare for the film.
Check back between now and the film’s release for regular updates.
Official Synopsis: From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger comes a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise. In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos.
Release Date: September 18, 2026
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Cast:
Austin Abrams (Weapons, Euphoria)
Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell, The Naked Gun)
Kali Reis (True Detective, Mercy)
Zach Cherry (Severance, You)
Johno Wilson (Twisted Metal)
FAQ
Is there a trailer for Resident Evil?
An official teaser trailer was released April 30th. Check it out below.
How long is Resident Evil?
In early April, World of Reel reported that a test screening of Resident Evil had a 90-minute run-time that is “all gas, no brakes.”
Run times often change between test screenings and the film’s completion, but the focus on tension and the “roller coaster ride of non-stop action” indicates that Resident Evil will likely be shorter than Cregger’s previous films.
Is Leon, Jill, or Chris in the new Resident Evil movie?
Nope! Cregger has confirmed his film is “outside of the characters of the games.”
“I’m not going to tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games. [Fans] already have that.” Cregger told Inverse in August of 2025.
What is the Prime Universe?
From Star Trek to DC Comics and beyond, the concept of the “Prime Universe” is one that recurs across some of the most popular fiction and science-fiction franchises. The conception of a Prime Universe allows storytellers to create one main canon, and separate universes for parallel stories that may or may not intersect with the main canon, a concept that will be familiar to comic book fans.
Likewise, the Prime Universe in the world of Resident Evil is the main storyline that began in the original 1996 Resident Evil game and has continued across all the console games as well as various animated movies, manga, and even a stage play, “Biohazard The Experience.” The live action film series is not considered part of the Prime Universe.
For a full list of Prime Universe media, visit the Resident Evil wiki.
Does Cregger’s Resident Evil connect to any of the video games?
Zach Cregger explains to IGN, “My rule for this movie was to try and make a movie that felt like my experience of playing the games, and that could live in the world of Resident Evil. I feel like this movie takes place alongside the events of Resident Evil 2. I like to think that everything that’s going on in the police station could be happening in this world. This is just another dude on another mission on the other side of town.”
“So yeah,” Cregger continues, “it’s not canon in that I’m using the characters, but it’s canon in that it lives in the actual day of reckoning in Raccoon City.”
What is the best Resident Evil movie?
This is, of course, a matter of personal taste but fans of the Resident Evil game franchise tend to prefer the animated films: Resident Evil: Damnation, and Resident Evil: Death Island.
Multiple discussion threads on Reddit tend to list the 2002 Resident Evil film as “the best,” and the film also has the highest audience score on Letterboxd.
The only way to know for sure, though, is to watch all the films and devise your own ranking.
Are the monsters practical or CGI in Resident Evil?
A report on the Resident Evil test screening from World of Reel said “practical effects dominate.” CGI monsters can always be added between test screenings and release but here’s hoping the final product feels visceral and terrifying no matter what.
Which monsters can you expect to see in Resident Evil?
Cregger tells IGN, “This movie doesn’t utilize zombies that much. It’s much more focused on the weird creature stuff than the zombies. There’s really only two scenes, maybe three, where there’s proper zombie stuff going on. And two of those three are in the trailer.”
“But other than that… I wouldn’t call this like a zombie movie,” Cregger continues. “I just feel like, you have this opportunity for the T-Virus to do all these really fascinating things to the human body, and to the world around you, and so to just limit it to zombies feels like a squandered opportunity. So I tried to really vary it up.”
